Segwit Reading Assignment

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#1306
  1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?

Increase the block size

  1. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?

to fix a bug in the bitcoin code called transaction malleability … SegWit activation also boosted development work on other features such as MAST, which enables more complex bitcoin smart contracts, Schnorr signatures, which would enable another transaction capacity boost, and TumbleBit, an anonymous top-layer network.

  1. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected?

SegWit supports the development of second layer protocols (i.e. the lightning network), as the malleability fix made any feature that relied on unconfirmed transactions less risky and easier to design.

  1. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?

No, its a Soft Fork, so the SegWit upgrade is still compatible with the previous protocol

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#1307
  1. What was proposed mostly was an increase in the MB limit of every block, which could be described as a temporary solution to a permanent problem fx. the miners would have to spend more on hardware and the network would be slower.
  2. They made it so the signatures on the tx wouldn’t be in the actual tx, making it so no one can alter the hash of a tx when it has been aired.
  3. The lightning network makes it easy and fast to transact crypto from point A to point B and SegWit helps it by enabling second layer protocols.
  4. No it is optional. It is compatible with old protocol.
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#1308
  1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?

The proposed alternative solution to Segwit was to increase the block size from 1MB to 2MB. This would have meant you could fit more transactions within a block.

  1. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?

Segwit not only solved the scaling issue, it solved the issue of malleability. This prevented the transaction ID being amended. Additionally Segwit has boosted development in areas such a MAST and Schnorr Signitures.

  1. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected?

Segwit has enabled the development of second layer protocols such as the lightning network. The lightning network boosts Bitcoins transaction capability by taking smaller, frequent transactions off chain and settling them when the user is ready.

  1. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?

No, this is a soft fork which means people, wallets and other services can choose to adopt it. New blocks can still be produced where Segwit has not been implemented.
Alternatively you could move to another fork of bitcoin such as bitcoin cash.

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#1309

Not really, old nodes are still capable of mining blocks containing segwit transactions and one can still create old style transactions :slight_smile:

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#1310

1). Increasing the block size to 2Mb
2). It solved the transaction malleability problem
3). Segwit allowed the Lightning network (and other second layer protocols) to be built because it removed the malleability issue.
4). No, but there are many advantages to using it.

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#1311

  1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?
    The alternative proposal was to increase the block size from 1MB to 2MB via a hard fork.

  2. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?
    Segwit was initially proposed to address the “transaction malleability” issue on BTC blockchain. Transaction malleability refers to the process of changing a tiny bit of data in a txid after it is sent, that in turn creates a new hash without altering the contents and destination of the transaction.

  3. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected?
    SegWit supports the development of 2nd layer protocols such as the lightning network which is a protocol that takes frequent, small, ow-fee transactions transactions off-chain. The transactions are settled on the bitcoin blockchain at some later point. Thus while solving the malleability issue Segwit also cntributed to making features relying on unconfirmed transactions less risky. Segwit thus offers an additional path to resolving the scaling problem.

  4. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?
    No, Segwit is a soft fork. Since its initial implementation in 2017, there has been a steady increase in Segwit adoption across the network.

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#1312

Increase blockchain size

TX malleability

SegWit support the lighting network

No

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#1313
  1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?
    People that didn’t support segwit proposed an increase in block size. This lead to a hard fork called Bitcoin Cash.
  2. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?
    It solved malleability of the tx ID. The signature was no longer a part of the hash calculated through SHA256. Just the inputs and outputs were calculated. This lead to higher security and more transactions could fit within 1Mb blocks.
  3. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected?
    Features that relied on unconfirmed transactions where now less risky, because the signature that can be changed was no longer a part of the tx ID. It made second layer solutions possible.
  4. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?
    I see people are saying no, but I don’t understand why. If you want to send bitcoin to someone, the signature can’t be a part of the tx ID if you use segwit (rules are stricter). Which means that you need to use segwit to send Bitcoin?? If the signature is apart of the data structure the rules are broken and the transaction can’t be added to a valid block??
    Can someone explain this to me.
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#1314

I see, I guess that is why it was a Soft Fork

#1315

1)A proposed alternative to SegWit was an increase in block size which also lead to a hard fork, Bitcoin Cash.
2)SegWit solves the transaction malleability along with supporting a second layer solution.
3) Segwit helped make Lightning network possible by supporting the second layer solution .
4) No. Old transactions can be used as well . Its optional

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#1316
  • What was a proposed alternative to Segwit? A proposed alternative to Segwit was to develop a fork and a new protocol with larger block size, this became Bitcoin Cash…
  • What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue? SegWit also supports the development of second layer protocols, such as the lightning network.
  • How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected? They connected through the malleability fix which made any feature that relied on unconfirmed transactions less risky and easier to design.
  • Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit? No, they are no forced at all and as of 2018, not all have upgraded to SegWit and not all are happy about it…causing a split in the community…
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#1317

  1. Bitcoin Cash proposed a block size increase as an alternative to Segwit.

  2. Segwit also solved TXID malleability which solved the issue of UTXO’s that helped the implementation of the Lightning Network.

  3. See answer #2.

  4. Segwit is not mandatory.

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#1318
  1. The alternative to Segwit was just increasing the size limit of transactions from 1 mB to 2 mB.
  2. Segwit solved the size issue, by allowing more space for the transactions, and also solved the transaction malleability by removing the signatures/witnesses from the transaction hash.
  3. Segwit increased the speed and made second-layer solutions possible.
  4. Others are not forced to use Segwit, and Bitcoin Cash is a byproduct of the non-Segwit folks.
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#1319

  1. Increasing the Block size.

  2. Supports the development of second layer protocols. (Lightning Network)

  3. The lightning network boosts bitcoin’s transaction capacity by taking frequent, small transactions off-chain, only settling on the bitcoin blockchain when the users are ready.

  4. Not all wallets support the upgrade but eventually due to adoption they will.

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#1320

You are not forced to use segwit on Bitcoin since old style transactions are still valid and will get accepted by the network :slight_smile: it is though very recommended since it decreases fees for the tx.

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#1321

You can also still create old style transactions on Bitcoin :slight_smile:

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#1322
  1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?

To increase the block size.

  1. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?

It was originally intended to fix the transaction malleability issue, where a change could be applied to transaction id (and the associated hash) but not the content of the transaction.

  1. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected?

Lightning network is a second layer protocol. Segwit fixing the malleability issue means that features relying on unconfirmed transactions are less risky than before. It is more likely that second layer features will be designed because of the risk reduction.

  1. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?

No, Segwit was a soft fork and therefore a contraction in the rules set. If people want to use the old rule set they can, but it will not have the same level of security due to the transaction malleability fix and the transaction fees will be higher driven by the block size limitation.

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#1323
  1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?

Increase block-size.
Like the hard fork to – “Bitcoin Cash” did instead.

  1. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?

TX-id Malleability.

  1. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected?

The malleability fix made any feature that relied on unconfirmed transactions less risky and easier to design.
The lightning network will further boost bitcoin’s transaction capacity by taking frequent, small transactions off-chain, only settling on the bitcoin blockchain when the users are ready.

  1. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?

No.

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#1324

  1. Bitcoin Cash which increased the block size.

  2. Transaction malleability was also solved by Segwit

  3. Segwit supports the development of 2nd layer protocols such as Lightning Network.

  4. The Segwit upgrade was optional.

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#1325
  1. The proposed alternative before segwit was to increase the block size to include more transactions.
  2. Segwit also solved transaction malleability
  3. Segwit provides support for the lightening network as well as other layer 2 solutions.
  4. People, wallets and other services are not forced to use segwit since the code update was a softfork
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